It’s a smartphone generation — of parents.
A study has found that just about half of all parents — 43% — have “no idea” how people raised children before everyone had a smartphone.
The research also revealed that mothers and dads commonly use smartphones to shop for his or her kids and use them up to 77 times per week to seek for advice, and 61% say it’s essentially the most helpful tool when raising their children.
The UK-based study, via OnePoll.com in collaboration with phone company Three UK, surveyed 1,000 respondents with children aged 6 and under.
With the flexibility to search in your device comes more data, too, as 34% admitted they’ve had to increase their data for his or her extra phone use, with most parents still exceeding their data limit by five gigabytes a month.
“We all know the necessary role phones play in people’s lives. Because the research shows, this role becomes much more necessary after you’ve had a baby — your phone becomes a critical addition to your loved ones,” Aislinn O’Connor, at Three UK, said of the study results. “Playing the role of entertainer, doctor, connector and far more in on a regular basis life.”
It’s not only parental worries chewing through data. The study noted that 36% of parents found downloading and streaming content for his or her kids was one of their biggest data drains, with a median of 12 hours streamed per week.
When parents were asked what they mostly use their devices for, 67% responded by saying they use them to take photos, 62% send WhatsApp messages, and 60% use them to regulate the weather.
Three UK has also partnered with father and musician Professor Green to highlight the importance of being connected through your phone as a latest parent.
“After I became a father, I discovered that phones grow to be your second or third pair of hands,” Green said. “They’re a tremendous source of information, advice and connect you to your support network your whenever you need it most.
“All of the stuff you took as a right about your phone before, suddenly grow to be a blessing as a parent,” Green identified. “That’s why it’s so necessary to help those that need to be connected, like latest parents, get connected.”